Sales prospecting is the process of identifying and qualifying potential customers, and then developing relationships with them in order to sell them something – whether that’s a product, service, or idea. It’s an essential part of any sales process, and can be a daunting task for many salespeople.
The first step is to identify who your ideal customer is and find out where they tend to hang out online.
If we’re talking about business folks, the best way to do that is to use LinkedIn, a professional networking platform where they communicate and build new business opportunities. It can be used to find potential customers and connect with them directly. Ideally, you want to use LinkedIn to build relationships with prospects and then convert them into paying customers.
The easiest way to start is by searching for keywords related to your product or service. You can look for the companies or specific titles, and then filter the results by location, industry, and more. You can generate leads using relevant groups and forums and participating in discussions or reach out to potential customers directly by sending them invitations to connect.
A more advanced researcher might opt for a more powerful search that comes with LinkedIn Sales Navigator to identify potential customers, track their activities, and send them personalized messages. You can also use LinkedIn lead generation forms to collect information about potential customers interested in your product or service.
At this stage you should also try to find LinkedIn emails to include a few email touchpoints aside from the social media interactions.
Once you have a list of potential leads, you can reach out to them directly by sending a connection request or InMail. If you’re not quite sure how to start a conversation, try something along the lines of:
“Considering your current job at {{Organization}} I thought you should find this {{Content}} useful. Also, are you interested in {{Value Proposition}}? I think our product/service could be a great fit for your needs.”
If you find the prospect’s email or phone number as well, a good idea would be to use those channels to amplify your outreach efforts, e.g., through follow-ups.
Whatever method you choose, it’s important to be creative and persistent when generating leads on LinkedIn. Be genuine and add value whenever possible. If you can provide helpful content and insights that resonate with your target audience, they’ll be more likely to do business with you.
